The Battle of the Bands ✓

The Battle of the Bands | 21

After Monday passed, Tuesday was just as bad. The day consisted of everyone talking about me and calling me derogatory names that I didn't care to repeat, and Wednesday was just the same.

By Thursday, things were dying down. Somewhat. People were still whispering, but at that point, some new gossip had surfaced and people started to forget about 'Kumwad Kylie'.

That was the least of my worries, though.

By Thursday, I realized that I'd completely forgotten about the Valentine's Day dance that Charlie had invited me to, and that he probably wouldn't want to go with me now. I knew for a fact that that picture of me had made it around Instagram to the McKinley kids, and that also meant that Maxwell had to have seen it.

God, when did my life become such a mess?

As the day slowly dragged on, I was happy when lunch finally came, ignoring the few heads that turned my way as I walked into the cafeteria. I hurried and bought a tray before sitting down at our usual table, the twins and Kenzie having already sat down.

Today's argument consisted of whether Taquitos was pronounced 'Takeetos' or 'Taqueetos', and I could feel myself losing brain cells as I sat down.

"Okay, I'm gonna choose to ignore this incredibly stupid debate and pretend you two morons aren't even here," I sighed, shaking my head slightly at the twins. They seemed to not even notice my input, as Jack was now asking Siri how to pronounce the word.

"Kenz, I need your help," I stated, earning the blonde's attention.

"Sure, what is it?" she asked, turning to face me as she took a bite of her pasta.

"Can you help me pick out a dress at the mall today?" I asked, begging her with my eyes to say yes and not question it.

"Ooh, got a hot date tonight?" she smirked, waggling her eyebrows at me.

I felt my cheeks heat up and mentally facepalmed myself. This was Mackenzie O'Brien, of course she was gonna interrogate me about it.

"Well, not exactly..." I trailed off, relieved when the color finally drained from my face.

"Well, what's the occasion?" she asked, glancing up at the twins as they were now flicking peas at each other. She rolled her eyes slightly with a laugh, "Those two have the bodies of NFL players and the mentalities of middle schoolers."

I nodded my head in agreement, laughing slightly.

"Charlie kinda asked me to the Valentine's Day dance at McKinley. And I don't know if he's gonna want to take me now that the whole picture of me and Carter has been floating around. He's probably mad—and rightfully so, but I just—"

"Hey, take a deep breath and relax. It'll be fine, I'll text him and ask him about it," she replied with an easy smile, grabbing her phone from her pocket before shooting Charlie a text. After a minute or two of casually talking, Kenz's phone dinged, and I was relieved when I saw Charlie's name flash on the screen.

"Alright, he says he's still down to go to the dance, but it says quote-unquote 'We need to talk'," she read aloud, furrowing her eyebrows slightly.

"Well, that's a good sign. I think."

Kenzie nodded her head and the bell rang soon after, then I quickly dumped my tray before catching back up with Kenz.

"So are you good for dress shopping after school?" I asked, really hoping she'd say yes. I'd need a wingman to tell me if the dresses I tried on were ugly or not.

"Yeah, we'll go after school," she nodded her head, smiling slightly. I let out a sigh of relief, thanking Kenzie and scurrying off to Calculus.

Somehow, the extra bits of notes I'd been taking and my improved study habits were bringing my grades up, which was a huge relief. Now the counselor could finally get off my ass about losing scholarships and whatnot.